Point count bird censusing: long-term monitoring of bird distrubution and diversity in central Arizona-Phoenix: period 2000 to 2011

Project Goal: To study the patterns in bird species diversity,
abundance and distribution over time and space, and the processes behind these
patterns as a result of urbanization. The ongoing project (since October 2000) is documenting the abundance and
distribution of birds in four habitats (51 sites): Urban (18) Desert (15) Riparian
(11) and agricultural (7). The 40 non-riparian sites are a subset of the 200 CAP-
LTER points. We are using point counts to survey birds four times a year (January,
April, July and October). During each session each point is visited by three birders
who count all birds seen or heard for 15 minutes. Our goal is to study how different
land-use forms affect bird abundance, distribution and diversity in the greater
Phoenix area in order to predict and preserve high bird species diversity as urban
development is proceeding. We have now just completed 3 years of monitoring, and are
also beginning to see some of the sites changing due to new urban development. The
results described below are based on analyses of the first two years’ data.